Powering Places by Land Art Generator Initiative
| A message from Land Art Generator Initiative.
Dear Friends, There are still a great many of our fellow citizens who do not recognize the seriousness of the climate change threat, despite the increasingly dire and catastrophic warnings from the scientific community. The Land Art Generator Initiative is calling positive attention to the great energy transition by making its benefits visible to communities around the world. We are confident that this uplifting approach is more effective than stories of doom and gloom at reaching those who are still not yet convinced of the science, or who may be tempted to protest new solar and wind installations because they fear they are not visually pleasing. At LAGI, we are celebrating the beauty of our renewable future by bringing creative minds together to design culturally relevant energy infrastructures that help neighborhoods and people directly. The next few years bring us the opportunity to expand our efforts in cities and in communities as a counterpoint to the likely absence of climate-oriented policies at the federal level. The world that we would like to see emerge in the coming decades is one in which the mass proliferation of clean energy systems will also lead to some of the 21st century’s greatest works of civic art and social projects. Our approach to sustainable energy should be suitable to and respectful of places and people. That is what LAGI is expert in, and it informs our unique approach to every project. We write about this in our latest book, Powering Places, which is now available at your local bookseller. Click on this link for online purchasing options. In addition to thoughtful essay contributions1, the book details over 60 of the most interesting entries to this year’s LAGI design competition.
Example spread from Powering Places Teams around the world were challenged to create a piece of civic art that also acts as sustainable and renewable energy and drinking water infrastructure for the city of Santa Monica, California. The result is an astounding sampling of innovative and artistic solutions that employ the latest wave, tidal, wind, solar, and other technologies.
1 Thank you to the Powering Places essay contributors: Craig Watson (Director, California Arts Council)
|
||
Living and Sustainability: An Environmental Critique of Design and Building Practices, Locally and Globally 9-10 Feb 2017 London
Place: London South Bank University, UK
Conference Dates: 09 – 10 February 2017
Organised by London South Bank University and AMPS (Architecture, Media, Politics, Society)
Estimates of the building industry’s contribution to world carbon emissions reach as high as 30% worldwide – with figures on energy consumption in the region of 40%. Given the scale of the industry’s contribution to these figures it is obvious that we cannot ensure a sustainable planet without addressing the practices, materials and legacy of our building industries, our cites and our buildings.
However, key to a sustainable future are also related social questions. The sustainability of communities is one of the most basic components of the quality of life and opportunity. Badly planned developments can not only lead to the destruction of habitats, they bring unaffordable housing, displaced communities and negative effects on physical health.
Hosted in London, this conference is concerned with the broad range of issues that affect the cities of advanced economies, the metropoles of new economic powerhouses, and the conurbations of the developing world.
Keynote Speaker announced:
Paul Allen. Project Coordinator of Zero Carbon Britain at CAT (Centre for Alternative Technology).
Three associated Publications delegates can publish in:
Academic Journal: Architecture_MPS; UCL Books Series: Housing – Critical Futures; Libri Book Series – Housing the Future
International outlook:
Delegates from multiple continents: Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, North and South America
Abstract Deadline: 30th October 2016. (Extendable to 30th November)
Full call and submissions: http://architecturemps.com/london-2017/
Host University Event Site: http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/conferences/living-sustainability-built-environment
This major international, interdisciplinary event brings together scholars and professionals from various fields and countries to share expertise on issues of environmental and social sustainability. Papers delivered at this London event can be included in one of several book and journal publications.
Contributions are welcome in one of three categories:
- Housing; 2. Commercial Buildings; 3. Urban Design and Cities
Within this context the variety of themes it suggests include (but are not limited to):
Sustainable construction; Eco-retrofitting; Resilience; Adapting to climate change; Building sustainability assessment tools; Construction Engineering; Eco-materials and technologies; Life cycle analysis etc.
This event has been developed with London South Bank University to sit within a series of AMPS projects including its international series of events and publications on housing called Housing-Critical Futures.
“The Science of Light” Sarah Hall – Grass Valley Elementary School, Camus, WA, USA
Overview The “Science of Light” installation in the main stairwell of the school merges the ancient art of stained glass with cutting edge technology to produce a transformative window wall. It gathers energy from sunlight in a visible and interactive way – as solar energy is gathered a glass spiral located in the stairwell is illuminated.
Goals In an elementary school specifically designed with various green features the intention in the window wall was to demonstrate renewable energy in an imaginative and beautiful context. By creating a positive school environment we felt this communicated a message of hope. The artwork was designed to delight, to teach, and to inspire. Delight coming from the transformation of sunlight into patterns and colors throughout the stairwell – and visible energy showcased in the LED lighting fixture. Inspiration and the teaching is accomplished through the innovative use of the solar cells embedded into the windows – offering an ongoing lesson in science, ecology, and the positive use of technology.
Process The project was initiated by DOWA Portland architects Barry Deister and Keith Johnson who were designing a public elementary school which showcased green technologies. There was a roof garden, windmills, a community garden and they wanted a highly visible “teaching” project regarding solar. An international collaboration between myself (the artist), the school board, a community group, the architects, a solar engineer and a German glass fabricator brought this project into reality. After preliminary meetings with all of the above I began design work to encompass the main stairwell of the building. Embedded in two panels are arrays of photovoltaic cells (thin silicon and metal squares that convert light into electricity). The energy is taken directly from the solar cells by the highly visible orange cord to a LED lighting fixture I designed for the stairwell. When the sun is shining the light is on. Christof Erban, an electrical and solar engineer, determined the design of the array. Once the design was finalized, I collaborated with Glasmalerei Peters GmbH in Germany to fabricate the painted and laminated art glass panels.
Additional In addition to the solar cells I used a grid pattern of laminated dichroic glass to enhance reflectivity and colour projection in the stairwell. This creates an ever-changing flood of colour in the main stairwell throughout the day and in every season. Under the main landing a sitting area was made for children, parents and staff to enjoy the transformative colour and light.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Hall_(glass_artist)
Future Works Changes Everything
We are Sheffield School of Architecture, MArch Studio Future Works 2015-2016, looking at energy, industry and manufacturing. Over the next six months we will be designing, both collectively and individually for the future of this region. This initial stage of our project has taken our team to several existing factory precedents and allowed us to observe a variety of industrial processes. The studio’s main driver is to explore the typology of ‘Future Factories’ with a particular focus on energy.
The pie charts on the right indicate the current energy situation in the UK.
The majority of energy is currently provided by non-renewable sources. 30% is sourced from coal and 30% from gas. A further 19% is produced from nuclear energy power plants with a further 4 additional plants planned for completion in the near future. At present 19% is supplied by renewable sources.
By 2050 we would love to see…
View original post 1,096 more words
